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Wednesday, November 26

To all you Malaysian bloggers with blogs that are available for public viewing, I have a grave warning for you.
Keep this in mind every time you want to write about something related to an organisation that is in a position to cause harm or inconvenience to you or your connections.

I have recently had to write a letter of apology for a post I wrote about my visit to a local award-winning school. It was a simple post to share my experience with my readers.
In that blog post, there was a very brief critique of their teaching techniques. I said that the teaching methods in this school was not that much different from other schools.

Several months after being published, the principal of the school got to read the critique & apparently became really angry about it.
Although she was not in a position to harm me, I visited the school as a student of my institute. If I do not take remedial action, my institute & the person who arranged the visit would receive a bad reputation.

Here is what I have learned...
I realised that a majority of the people with authority in my great nation are not ready for free thought & public critique. They get really emotional & react according to that emotion.
Sometimes they use their authority or power for ‘pay back’.

Therefore, I have got two tips for my fellow bloggers…
#1 Keep Things Anonymous. If you do not have something favourable or nice to say, do not state any names directly. Hints may be employed to reveal the identity of the party to be mentioned.
#2 Symbols are a blogger's best friend. Even the noobest of noobs can google. My post was discovered with google. If you absolutely have to state the name, be smart about it. Do it so search engines cant find it. Use spaces or any other symbols. Exp: “Putrajaya” = “Putra-jaya” = “Put+ra+ja+ya” = “Put^raja^ya” = “Putr@j@y@”

I hope that the principal’s passion & determination in calling up my lecturers to make an angry complaint about me, is also reflected in her desire to improve her institution. I hope that she is equally as focused on preserving pedagogic quality as she is on preserving reputation.

If anyone has any grievances or complaints to make regarding what I have written here on my blog, please bring it up with me so the problem can be dealt with directly.
My email is clearly displayed on my blog. USE IT. I will respond accordingly & appreciatively.

Firstly, I'd like to thank my God who has granted me favour & turned various circumstances around to grant me an advantage.
My success is a testimony of your love.
I'd like to thank my father who made me sign up for this "go-overseas-for-free" course.
I'd like to thank my mother who supported me all the way.

I'd like to thank the men of Cohort 2.
We helped each other through many tough times & had many one-night stands together rushing to complete assignments.
You are my family not in blood but in spirit.
Esp you, the monkeys!

I'd like to thank the ladies of Cohort 2.
Thanks for giving me so much love & support throughout the 5.5 years.
Thanks for being the ones to give your 100 & 1 percent during events I took charge of.
The countless dances, performances, the 2005 Yearbook, the 2008 Teachers Day & the 2008 Post-Practicum Seminars.

I'd like to thank my lecturers.
Both IPBA & VUW.
Some of you have set a great example for me.
Especially Dr Lawrence, Dr Norasiah, Mr Manoharan, Dr Jon Newton, Laila Faisal, Dr Zahedah & Dr Chong.
Many lecturers who have or haven't taught me have encouraged me & supported me. Thank you.
Several of you have shown me what not to become. I thank you too.

I'd like to thank the Cohort 1.
As seniors, many of you have walked me through a lonely yellow road that you have trodden before me.
Some of you have even become my friends.
Your relationship & kindness is greatly appreciated.
One of you has been giving me tremendous support on the emotional & affection side. Thanks, babe.

I'd like to also thank all the other people who have contributed but have not been included in this list.
Leave a comment!
Make yourself known!

Tuesday, November 11

After going through 5 strenuous days of a pre-service patriotism camp for government servants, I have to say that I am quite impressed!I have gained a good understanding of the constitution & foundation of our country.I hate history but I am glad that I learned a bit of it because those who do not know history are prone to letting history repeat itself.I dont want to let bad history repeat itself...However, I am not here to comment on the content or implementation of the camp.

I am here to comment on something I observed in a man.I have observed a shameless display of carnal desire in one of the camp facilitators.This caused me to look into myself & wonder...Will I be like him in the future?

I dont know about other men but I am a man with needs...This need surfaced during puberty & grew significantly as a developed into a man.At this moment, I am a humble uncorrupted individual.Therefore, I carry myself with honour & self-control.But a few years down the road, once I have some wealth, influence & power, will I still be so honourable?Or will I start collecting public titles of respect to mask my inner corruption?

I witnessed this facilitator who is well-decorated with titles make a mockery of them.I witnessed someone entrusted with the responsibility of enlightening us shift our focus from patriotism to sexual tension.I watched this married man with 2 children profess to the whole student population that he is a "lover of women".I watched as he left the small group under his care to walk around the camp & interfere with other groups.I saw his creepy eyes scouting for eye candy every time he walked by my group.I watched with great anger the smirk of pleasure on his face every time he got the student population to go along with one of his many cunning dirty jokes.

He is a facilitator at a camp essential to building national unity & harmony.He is an Ustaz & a Muslim who has completed the Hajj.He can quote the Quran without much effort.He maintains the image of a knowledgable & rich man.

Is someone like this supposed to:- shamelessly use words with sexual connotations?- ask for the phone numbers of attractive female students?- walk around with an air of pride & aloofness?- blatantly show off expensive possessions?

I dont think so.

If I were a woman, I wouldn't find him desirable at all...One, he is not good looking. (Rules out a one-night-stand.)Two, he is too full of himself. (Rules out a romantic relationship.)Three, I cannot trust him with my heart. (Rules out marriage.)

I really do hope the pressure & difficulty in life does not push me to become a sleazy old man.This sleazy facilitator gave me the shock of my life.I never knew such a man would exist in this world.Now I know what not to become...Now I know which path not to take lest I end up like him.

There is only one such facilitator in the whole team.I have met most of the other facilitators & they all seem to be normal law-abiding citizens doing their part for their beloved country.And one of them had a personality so awesome it's exemplary.

I will choose to walk on a path similar to theirs, if not better...I will not let a few bad apples cloud my judgement.The camp was great & the lessons planned out for us were great too.And from this post, you can see that the horny facilitator taught me a lesson that is even greater.

“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and your discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.”

~~Patañjali

"Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you will help them to become what they are capable of being."

~~Goethe

"We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit."

~~EE Cummings

"Tell me and I will forget. Teach me and I will remember. Involve me and I will learn."

~~Benjamin Franklin

自知知,不知知不知

知者自知,不知者不知

"Try not to become a man of success, but rather become a man of value."

~~Albert Einstein

"Teaching is more than impacting knowledge, it is inspiring change."

~~William Arthur Ward

“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”

~~Napoleon Hill

"Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks learns quite as much from his failures as from his successes."

~~John Dewey

"The least productive people are usually the ones who are most in favor of holding meetings."

~~Thomas Sowell

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

~~ Edmund Burke

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."